


Coffee Shop Mix-Up

by DinoKieran



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Cheesy, F/F, Fluff, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22870075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinoKieran/pseuds/DinoKieran
Summary: It's Dehydrated_Pearl's Birthday! So in celebration, I decided to write her a cutesy little Jaspearl one-shot It's basically a cheesy coffee shop au, which there are plenty, but why not add one more? Happy birthday, nerd ;)
Relationships: Jasper/Pearl (Steven Universe)
Kudos: 28





	Coffee Shop Mix-Up

**Author's Note:**

> What do you do for a fellow fic writer's birthday? You write them a little fic of course!! Enjoy the cheese, awkwardness and fluff, ya big nerd! (Love you Dehydrated_Pearl, ya thirsty Jasphoe.)

Jasper slowly pushed the door open, dragging her feet as she entered the coffee shop. Behind the counter, the barista greeted her in a chirpy tone that irritated her caffeine-starved brain but she kept that to herself, placing her order gruffly before leaning against the counter and scoping out the establishment. Thankfully there appeared to be multiple seats free, though she gathered that was normal for this time of the day. Most folks were probably at work. She sighed.

When her name was called, she grabbed the cup that had just been placed on the counter and ambled over to the seat in the far corner before pulling her laptop out of her bag, plugging it in and booting it up. She groaned and rubbed her eyes; if only her apartment still had wifi, then she wouldn’t have had to pull herself out of bed and get dressed. Job searching was a pain in the ass.

“Um… excuse me?” 

A voice broke her out of her train of thoughts and her head snapped up. At the end of her table stood a tall, slender woman with pale ginger hair; she was wearing a fitted pencil skirt and a white blouse, her light blue eyes observing her hesitantly behind a pair of pink horn-rimmed glasses that were resting on a long, slender nose.

She was pretty cute, now that Jasper thought about it.

Apparently, her sudden movement coupled by the blank stare had unnerved the other woman and she’d taken a slight step back, eyeing her with slight confusion. Realizing this, Jasper quickly blinked away her surprise and cleared her throat.

“Oh uh… sorry, yes?” She sat up in her chair, giving what she hoped was a friendly expression. The women in front of her gave an awkward smile and gestured to the cup on her table.

“Sorry to disturb you, but I believe you have taken my drink instead of yours.” She held up the one in her hand, which had Jasper’s name scrawled on it. The blonde blinked and looked down at the cup beside her, turning it around to read the hastily scribbled name on it. ‘ _Pearl, huh?’_ she thought to herself before coughing and giving a nod and an awkward smile.

“Ah, sorry about that!” She picked the cup up and proferred it to the woman “I was kinda just daydreaming back there and picked up the first cup I saw, my bad, heh.” She scratched the back of her neck, feeling her cheeks flushing a little with embarrassment. The woman let out a light laugh and shook her head, taking her cup from her and placing her own in the larger woman’s hand.

“Oh don’t worry about it, I understand, mistakes happen! Anyway, I’ll leave you be now, sorry for disturbing you!” With a smile, she turned on her heel and headed back to her table. Jasper nodded and watched her leave, admiring just how this woman held herself; she was the prim and proper type, which made Jasper feel a little embarrassed about her vest and joggers ensemble, with a pair of ratty sneakers completing the look. Here she was looking like some kind of bum while there were women like _that_ walking around; she was most definitely _miles_ out of her league so she should absolutely stop staring -why was she still staring??-

She flushed red and looked back down at her laptop screen, trying her best to ignore those distracting, intrusive thoughts and focus on her work. This resume and subsequent job applications weren’t going to write themselves after all.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The thought of traipsing down to the same coffee shop for the second time in a row had definitely not sat well with Jasper initially, but so far it seemed to be the only place local to her that had free wifi. Yes, that was totally the reason, and not because she might be able to see that girl again. It also had nothing to do with the fact that she’d decided to wear her cleanest shoes, freshly washed jeans and a well-fitting orange button-down.

Nope. Not at all.

So why did she feel so deflated upon entering the shop to find it void of a certain slim woman with a head of red hair?

Slumping into her seat feeling somewhat dejected, she placed her coffee on the table and started her job search once again. This was what she was here for, she reminded herself, to apply for any position that would take her and start getting paid again.

She couldn’t help but snort a little at how stupid this all was: looking for work and ending up finding a girl instead. She’d lost count of the number of times she’d found herself distracted by women, but those times she’d usually had some alcohol in her veins to give her confidence, and was in an environment in which that sort of behaviour was encouraged. This wasn’t some seedy club, this was a coffee shop, and she had work to do.

She could imagine Zeb teasing her about this whole thing, probably tell her she just needed to get laid or something. Fuck that. Where was she? Ah. Right. Job applications.

It wasn’t until an hour later that she was disturbed from her work by the sharp sound of the bell ringing, signalling someone else had entered the establishment. Her eyes casually flicked up out of curiosity, only to widen as they settled on an all-too-familiar face. Clad in an almost identical outfit as the previous day.

Jasper, trying not to be an unrepentant creep, did her best to focus on her work whilst simultaneously eyeing the woman on the other end of the shop as she placed her order. Unfortunately, her efforts quickly proved unsuccessful, as when the woman turned around with her order in her hand they locked eyes. Having been caught in the act, Jasper swallowed then thought quickly, reaching for her own cup and raising it slightly, giving a lop-sided grin as she gestured to it. The other woman brought a hand to her lips and let out a small chuckle as she walked past her.

“You got it right this time hmm?” She said in an amused tone as she passed her by. Jasper chuckled and gave a nod as she tried to ignore the blush that was spreading across her cheeks.

“Heh… y-yeah, wouldn’t wanna inconvenience you again!” She almost immediately gave herself a mental slap. Why was she being this awkward? Really? The woman laughed and waved her off.

“Oh no no, that shouldn’t be of any concern, you didn’t inconvenience me at all.” She carried on past her before Jasper could say anything more, but the bigger girl swore she saw a pale blush on the other woman’s cheeks. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------

Day three. Jasper was thankful this time for leaving her apartment promptly, because the heavens opened merely minutes after she closed the coffee shop door behind her. She watched the water droplets slowly make their way down the windowpane as she settled in her seat, finding the sound and sight of the rain calming. Well, now that she was inside and not out in it that is.

Due to said weather, she remained the sole customer for some time, which enabled her to really focus on her work. Granted, all she was doing was scrolling through job listings and shooting off her c.v to any she thought were within her range of experience, but with it being such a tedious task that would prompt her to welcome any distraction, not having such a thing occur allowed her to do a lot more than she had originally planned on doing for the day.

So focused was she, that all thoughts of the willowy woman from before slipped her mind. That is until said woman came hurrying into the building, drenched and most definitely flustered. Jasper once again watched her, but this time with concern as she took her drink and speed-walked to a nearby table and began pulling paperwork out of her bag, letting out an audible sigh of what Jasper could only presume to be relief that said paperwork was still dry. She herself was still sodden, however, and the beverage she was taking the occasional sip from was clearly doing nothing to warm her up as she began to shiver slightly while looking through her papers.

Jasper stared at her, concerned. She’d clearly not come prepared for this sort of weather, and that thin blouse was doing nothing to conserve her body heat… She eyed her own letterman jacket slung on the seat beside her, contemplating. On the one hand, she didn’t know this woman, they’d barely said a few words to one another; but on the other hand, she looked like she was going to freeze if she didn’t have some way to warm up.

...This was going to look so freaking cheesy, Jasper knew that. Giving her jacket to an attractive, ‘helpless’ stranger… She bet that Peridot would have a field day when she found this out: big tough Jasper trying to act like a gentlewoman. But then again she could always counter with a few teases of her own. That little nerd definitely went overboard with the theatrics while trying to woo her current girlfriend. She smirked a little at that, then swallowed before grabbing her jacket and getting up. 

The other woman looked up as she approached, giving her a confused yet polite smile; she opened her mouth to speak but was cut off when Jasper awkwardly proferred her the jacket.

“Uh… you looked kinda cold over here so I thought you might like something to warm you up” she said, flushing a little as she gestured to the jacket “so… here. You can wear this. If you want to, of course, aha.” She was already regretting her actions as embarrassment started to rise within her.

“Oh...w-well, that’s so lovely of you-” The smaller woman replied, eyes flicking between the jacket and Jasper “-but I wouldn’t want to be any trouble. It’s such a lovely jacket and I’d hate to get it wet... ” she trailed off. Jasper was surprised to see that despite her words, the woman was looking at her jacket with the shadow of a longing look. She could only assume that she was attempting to refuse the offer out of politeness, but gathering from the amount of shivering she was doing, she definitely needed it. That gave her a boost of confidence.

“No, please. Go ahead” she insisted with a smile “you’re soaked through, and the heating here isn’t the best. Wouldn’t want you catching a cold eh?”

There was another moment of hesitation, then her companion gently took the jacket from her grasp, sliding it around her shoulders and letting out a soft sigh.

“I… thank you. You’re very kind.” she replied as she gave Jasper a shy smile “I must admit I am quite embarrassed that I didn’t check the forecast before leaving this morning, I’m usually so well prepared” she laughed a little, to which Jasper chuckled and shrugged.

“Ah what can you do, the weather gets the best of all of us. I’m uh, Jasper, by the way” She grinned and rubbed the back of her neck. The pale woman smiled again.

“Very true, and it’s lovely to meet you, Jasper, well, officially I suppose. I’m Pearl” She proffered her hand to shake, which seemed a tad too formal but then again, everything about this woman screamed professionalism, to Jasper shyly took her delicate hand in her own and shook it politely.

“Great to meet you too!” Jasper replied, deciding to omit the fact that she had made a point of memorizing the woman’s name the first time she read it on her coffee cup. Stars she had it bad. Instead of giving the universe another chance for her to make a fool of herself, she reluctantly released Pearl’s hand from her grip and cleared her throat “but uh, anyway, I should let you get back to work, you seem pretty busy.” she gestured to the assortment of papers spread across the table. Pearl glanced down at the collection and appeared to deflate a little, then slowly nodded.

“Ah yes… true; and you do seem pretty busy yourself. Thank you again for this” she gestured to the jacket “I’ll be sure to give it back to you before I leave!”

“Hmm...” Jasper tilted her head. “I mean, you could. But don’t you come here every day?”

“I- well yes I do.”

“Then you can give it back to me tomorrow, wouldn’t want you getting even colder on your way home!” Once again Jasper felt herself flushing. She felt like an idiot; was she really going to let some stranger leave with her jacket? What was she thinking?? She was never this trusting, damn these emotions.

Pearl looked taken aback by the proposal, staring up at her with wide eyes.

“I...Are you sure? I mean, what if you get caught in the rain yourself? Surely you’d need this?”

Jasper swallowed, then puffed out her chest and grinned.

“Don’t worry about it! I only live, like, five minutes up the road? One if I sprint” She chuckled. That was a lie, it took far longer than that, especially uphill, but she’d committed to her act of chivalry and wasn’t backing down now.

“Then, thank you, I’ll be sure to return it tomorrow! Again, you’re very kind.”

“I try my best!” Was all Jasper could manage before returning to her seat with a smile, giving Pearl a small wave.

As she sat down, hunching over her laptop, she felt her blush making its way up to her ears and down her neck. She’d never been this trusting to anyone she barely knew, well, sober at least; they’d hardly exchanged any words and yet Pearl was quickly becoming the centre of her thoughts. She tapped haphazardly on random keys in an attempt to distract herself from just how out of character this all was for her. Crushing this hard of some woman who she’d just so happened to cross paths with felt like something out of some cheesy romance movie, which she couldn’t help but laugh at. Quietly though.

It hadn’t helped, she supposed, that Pearl seemed to be welcoming her presence, or at the very least tolerated her. She was friendly and wasn’t giving off any vibes that the larger woman’s attention to her was making her uncomfortable. Dammit, she really was looking too much into all this. Then again… was it a bad thing? Even if she never tried anything further, having someone to talk to outside of her usual friendship groups could be refreshing, good for her even. 

So it was decided. She’d just let whatever this was happen, and not stress too much. That was what she’d told Peri time and time again when she’d freak out over something or someone, so why not take her own advice for a change? She glanced over her shoulder to see that Pearl had wrapped the jacket fully around her, but had to roll up the sleeves in order to keep the use her hands due to the jacket’s large size. She smiled a little at the comical sight. Yeah, she could do this, just let the events take their course.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Jasper sneezed loudly, wiping her nose and zipping up her hoodie further before returning to her typing. It had still been raining when she’d left, and despite her insistence that she’d be fine, the cold winds coupled with being drenched to the core appeared to have given her a bit of a head cold. Curse her chivalry. It wasn’t bad enough to stop her leaving the house though, heck, it took a lot to bring her down illness-wise. Still, she felt shitty, and embarrassed. What would Pearl think if she saw her all sniffly? She hoped she wouldn’t feel bad, it wasn’t her fault after all; Jasper had been the one to offer her damn jacket.

Speaking of… The woman in question hadn’t shown up yet. Granted Jasper had gotten here much earlier than normal, but that didn’t stop her from worrying a little. Not about her jacket really, more just about where she was in general; she hoped she hadn’t scared her off by being too forward and hadn’t only accepted her offer to avoid being rude; she’d met people like that before.

She drummed her fingers slowly against the wooden tabletop and grumbled as she stared at the screen. How many times had she sent out her resume? Far too many times for her liking. She’d had a couple of replies that had gotten her hopes up, but they turned out to be automated emails thanking her for her interest in the position, and that they’d get back to her shortly. Jasper knew damn well that ‘shortly’ could mean any time between next week to next year depending on the company. Dammit.

“Ah, there you are!” 

She almost jumped a little at the sudden sound, but quickly restrained herself and instead looked up quickly to be greeted with Pearl’s smiling face. The thin woman had somehow made it across the length of the shop without her so much as registering a sound. Had she really been that focused on her mental rant? She sat up a little and smiled, feeling her mood brightening in the presence of the other woman.

“Yup. I’m here” she replied, chuckling “you seem surprised to see me.”

“Oh, sort of I suppose” Pearl quickly replied as she smiled a little in return “it’s just that I didn’t see you as I was walking over here, you weren’t in your usual seat so I thought the weather may have put you off.”

Jasper raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘Usual’ spot? Had this woman been keeping tabs on her? That was new. As tempted as she was, she decided not to say anything as she didn’t want to fluster her current companion. Thankfully it seemed that the redhead hadn’t registered the implications of her little omission, and had instead been eyeing Jasper with a look of concern. The larger of the two shifted a little under her gaze, feeling herself flushing as she felt those blue eyes on her.

“... Pardon me for saying this, but you seem a little… different today- you don’t have a cold do you?” Her concerned expression further cemented itself as her brows knitted together. “Oh stars, you got caught in the rain on your way back didn’t you?” She began to look more concerned, surprising Jasper a little. However, she had already thought about this multiple times and just raised a hand, shaking her head gently.

“Oh no no, don’t worry about it” she replied, grinning “I got home fine, just decided to go out for a late-night run and got surprised by a sudden shower, that’s all.” It was a stupid thing to lie about, but she could tell that Pearl was about to start blaming herself and that was the last thing she wanted. Thankfully it worked, Pearl relaxed a little and let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Oh, good- I mean!” Her eyes widened as she realized what she was implying “that’s definitely not good, having a cold isn’t good at all, but. Well. You know-” She cut herself off, embarrassed “I just wouldn’t want to be responsible, even indirectly, for any sort of discomfort for you.”

Jasper just shrugged and waved her off.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I get ya. It was my own stupidity that got me into this, besides, it’s not that bad.” She chuckled “takes more than a cold to take me down-” she sneezed and flushed a little as she wiped her nose “ah, bless me,” she said, chuckling.

Pearl laughed a little too, leaning against the table and giving a relieved smile.

“Alright, well, regardless, I hope it clears up soon, colds are never fun.” 

“Appreciate it” was Jasper’s reply as she grinned “I’ll probably skip my workouts for the next couple of days, kinda sucks but eh, needs must.”

“Ah, you work out regularly then?” Pearl asked, tilting her head.

“Oh for sure. Not as much as I would like to, granted, but I always try and find some time during the day to get at least something in.” Jasper stretched and yawned a little “s’good to have a routine of some kind.”

“Very true,” replied Pearl “you know, in hindsight, it really shouldn’t have surprised me that you have an exercise regime.”

Jasper blinked, “Oh? How so?” Was she that easy to read? Pearl hesitated as if she’d just registered what she’d said, her pale cheeks reddening a little.

“A-ah… well, you see...” she fidgeted a little, suddenly appearing very interested in the floor “you just um… you know… Look like the athletic type…?” The last few words came out high pitched and quiet; and although her head was turned downwards away from Jasper’s gaze, she could see the woman was blushing furiously.

As weird as it may sound, Jasper found the scene before her somewhat amusing. Pearl flustered really was funny, endearing even. She was surprised by this admission and the way in which it was spoken, implying to her that it wasn’t a simple observation; had Pearl been checking her out..? Now that would be something. She kept those thoughts to herself though, because even though Pearl’s flustered demeanour was definitely cute, she didn’t want her feeling any more discomfort. Instead, she chose to sit back and give the other woman a reassuring smile and a shrug.

“Well, I appreciate that” she replied, running a hand through her hair “I worked hard for the physique I have, so having it noticed always feels good to me. Mind you. Most folks find it more intimidating than anything.” She snorted “granted, it’s mostly guys though. Apparently most of them can’t handle it when a woman can bench press more than they can.”

Pearl chuckled.

“I can imagine” she replied, grinning a little “some of the men in my fencing classes don’t particularly enjoy facing off against me either. Granted they’re eager at first as they think I’m an easy target, but it’s always amusing to me seeing the shock on their faces when I completely school them.” She chuckled.

“Wait wait, hold up” Jasper sat up, eyebrows raised “you fence?”

Pearl gave a shy smile and a nod, playing with a strand of her hair.

“Well damn, colour me surprised. From the sounds of things I take it you’re pretty good?” Jasper continued as she leaned forward in her chair. This genuinely caught her off-guard. Who knew a prim and proper woman like her would know how to fence; mind you the thought of Pearl wielding sword was far from offputting to her, quite the opposite actually. She must be a sight to behold.

“I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I’m the top of my class” Pearl replied as she stood up a little straighter, clearly proud of herself “I don’t partake in competitions or anything, I’m far too busy for that, but I enjoy helping others train. I prefer teaching others.”

“Huh..” Jasper smiled a little. That made sense to her, from their brief conversations it seemed as if Pearl was definitely the supportive type. Caring too, and certainly easy to get along with. “That’s pretty damn badass.”

Again Pearl blushed,

“Oh, well thank you. That’s very kind of you to say” she chuckled and shifted from foot to foot, then startled a little as she heard her name being called from behind the counter. “Oh! Oh goodness, I was so distracted I forgot to collect my coffee. I should go grab that- hang on, before I go.” She rummaged in her satchel and carefully pulled out Jasper’s jacket and handed it over, “here, I took the liberty of giving it a quick wash and an iron, you know, just in case.”

Jasper gently took it; it was folded perfectly and from what she could see, was a hell of a lot cleaner than it was before. It almost looked new. She gave Pearl a surprised yet thankful smile.

“Oh, well, thank you! I appreciate it.” She’d been expecting perhaps having it back a little cleaner than before, but Pearl really had gone all out. Why was she so caring? So cute? Ugh! She could feel herself blushing again.

Pearl giggled and shrugged, closing her satchel and turning slightly.

“It was no trouble at all! It’s the least I could do after you were so generous to me yesterday. Now I’d best get going, wouldn’t want my coffee getting cold!... And I need to get to work. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Jasper nodded and gave her a shy ‘goodbye’ of her own, then looking down at the jacket, still blushing a little. She’d silently hoped that the other woman would have remained at her table, heck, she had been tempted to invite her to sit with her, but she lost her nerve. That being said, she hadn’t expected to have such an interesting conversation with her. It was their first time talking to one another for more than two minutes, and it just… flowed so naturally? Yeah, she got nervous and flustered but it was as if they’d known each other for a while. Also… she knew she wasn’t the best at picking up hints, but to her, the fact that Pearl was getting just as flustered as she was, if not more so, was an indication that she had some kind of interest in her. Maybe she was just shy about making new friends, but maybe not… She grinned a little to herself.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she’d started all this job-hunting malarky, Jasper had told herself she was allowed one lie-in a week and a subsequent break from staring blankly at a screen as she scrolled through listing after listing. Today had been that day, but yet here she was. As tempting as a few more hours in bed had been, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She’d told Pearl she’d see her tomorrow, and she’d be damned if she broke her word. Yeah… if she thought she had it bad before…

When she pushed open the door she was surprised to see Pearl already there, leaning against the counter. When she noticed her she straightened up and gave a small wave, her eyes seeming to brighten at the larger girl’s presence, a gesture that Jasper returned with a grin.

“Hey,” She said as she reached the counter “seems you beat me here huh? That’s a first” Pearl chuckled and shrugged.

“Well I thought I’d try and get here a little earlier than normal, why not, right?” She chewed her lower lip “I… hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of ordering our drinks. The barista said they knew the drink you ordered so...” she trailed off, blushing as she gestured to the two drinks placed on the countertop. 

Jasper was surprised, but grinned.

“Oh, well, thanks! That’s very thoughtful, hang on, let me just...” It definitely saved her having to wait for it to be made. She began rummaging in her pocket for her change, knowing she brought almost the exact amount needed for a coffee-

“No no, I’ve paid for it, it’s on me.” 

She stopped, staring at Pearl as she seemed to blush harder.

“Wait, what?”

“Just… consider it a thank you for letting me borrow your jacket. It’s the least I could do.” The willowy woman took her own cup and handed a surprised Jasper hers, who took it while trying not to blush herself.

“I… that’s extremely kind of you” she mumbled as she rubbed the back of her neck, flashing a smile. Pearl smiled shyly and gave a small shrug,

“Well, I do try my best” she replied as she tugged the strap of her satchel, glancing about the shop as she took a sip of her drink before letting out a small sigh “I suppose I should get to work, these articles aren’t going to study themselves.”

“I hear you...” Jasper replied reluctantly. Her companion chuckled and headed to her seat, but as Jasper did the same she felt a light tap on her arm. She turned and eyed a still blushing Pearl with a questioning look. The shorter of the two shuffled her feet and glanced up at her.

“Well I… forgive me if this is a little much but, I don’t suppose you’d like to share a table with me? I don’t have a lot of work to do today, so there will be enough space...”

Jasper’s eyebrows almost shot up into her hairline as she stood there in surprise. Was this really happening? What?

Pearl meanwhile seemed to have taken Jasper’s silence to mean something was wrong,

“I understand if you don’t want to! You’re um.. Obviously busy and I wouldn’t want to disturb you so...”

“No no, please, I’d like that, thank you.” Jasper finally said in response, finding herself blushing too. The smaller of the two visibly relaxed and smiled.

“Okay, good I… I thought I’d overstepped there!”

“Nah, just surprised me is all” Jasper grinned and tried her best to stop the blush from spreading, but she could feel her cheeks heating up even now as she spoke.

As the two of them took their seats, Jasper was still trying to process the fact that she was now sitting across from the girl she’d been crushing on, hard. It was bizarre how quickly they’d gone from speaking in passing to now this, but she wasn’t complaining. Not at all.

“Excuse the mess,” Pearl said shyly as she pulled some paperwork and a couple of books from her bag, spreading them out across her half of the table “I like to have everything out so I can grab it as and when I need it instead of rifling through...” She was clearly still a little flustered by their current situation it seemed, as she fumbled a little with one of the books while searching for a specific page.

“Ah, no worries” Jasper replied with a shrug and a reassuring grin “I only use my laptop so you can take up as much space as you need” she eyed the paper nearest to her “...What are you studying anyway? Looks, uh, complex.”

Pearl chuckled.

“I suppose it does; I’m doing a bachelors in aerospace engineering”

“...Well shit,” Jasper was surprised yet again. She’d clocked that she was an intelligent person, but damn, this was something else. Granted she didn’t know squat about aerospace engineering, but it sounded impressive. “That’s gotta be complex as hell. Does that mean you’ll be building planes and all that?”

It was clear that talking about her degree was enjoyable to Pearl, as she brightened and sat up, still with one book in hand.

“Well, not entirely. You see, I’m hoping to specialize in avionics, which is different in the sense that while an aerospace engineer is responsible for designing and building the structure of aeroplanes and spacecraft, an avionics engineer focuses on the electronic systems. I’ve always preferred the electronic side of things. Of course, there are additional certificates and such I will need to acquire before I’ll be able to apply for jobs, but I’m taking it one step at a time.” She smiled “what about you? Every time you’re in here I see you focused on that laptop screen, must be pretty important.”

Jasper swallowed, feeling a pit form in her stomach. Here was a woman who seemed to have her whole life planned out; a highly complex degree and everything… And there she was, unemployed, just trying to find any job that would take her. She had figured by now that Pearl wasn’t the judgemental type, but she couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“Well, I guess you could say that. I’m just job searching right now” she replied hesitantly “it’s tough-going but I’m doing my best.”

She noticed Pearl’s body-language shift a little, but nothing major.

“Ah I see,” she replied, “well, I don’t blame you, it’s hard to keep going at the same place for years on end, always good to keep moving right?”

“True… ” Jasper sighed. Welp. Guess she had to be honest here “I’m actually between jobs right now. Last place I worked decided they needed to save money so got rid of a few of us.”

“...Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” There was a definite mood shift at that point, but Jasper carried on.

“Eh, I saw it coming. The boss retired and gave the business to one of his friend’s kids who was a pretty shitty person. I was already looking for work when I was let go, so it wasn’t like I was sad about it” she chuckled dryly “I’ll be alright for a while though, got a lot of money saved up to keep me going and I’m sure it won’t be long till I get hired someplace new.”

Pearl was silent for a moment, then nodded, offering a small smile.

“I’m glad to know you’ve got a positive outlook on this. Stars knows this economy does a number on anyone and everyone, but you’ll get there, I’m sure of it. Actually-” She reached into her bag and rummaged around a bit “I know someone, a friend of mine, who works in employment support. She could help you out if you need it.” She pulled out a notepad and pulled out a slip of paper, scribbling down a number, email address and a name “she’s really good; anything from interview skills to the restructuring of resumes, she knows what to do.” Proferring the paper to the larger girl, she smiled softly “I know you might not need the help, but just in case...”

“That’s… wow, that’s really cool of you, cheers Pearl” Jasper slowly took the slip of paper and skimmed over it “I’m sure I’ll give her a call at some point. I haven’t gone through my resume fully for a couple of years, so that could be something.” She slipped the paper into her wallet, reminding herself to give this ‘Garnet’ a call tomorrow. If Pearl knew her, she had to be good.

“You’re more than welcome. Finding work is hard these days, and if I can help you in even a small way… Well, you know”

Jasper chuckled as she nodded at the now furiously-blushing Pearl. This woman was so caring, it was adorable.

“You’re too kind” She replied softly, resisting the urge to reach across the table and give the other’s pale hand a squeeze. Nope. They were not at that level yet. Smiling she finally got out her laptop and booted it up, thankful for once that she’d left it on standby instead of shutting it down. It was a drain on the battery life but made for quicker loading time. 

She’d thought working across from Pearl would be distracting or even stressful, but it was… nice. Calming even. She’d been so used to sitting by herself just mindlessly staring at a screen that she’d forgotten just how socially draining it was. Having another person nearby helped her feel less frustrated or less likely to give up, especially since Pearl hadn’t judged her for her current employment status; it felt good to have some support.

Of course, the fact that said support came from an incredibly attractive woman made things ten times better.

She did catch herself glancing over at her companion every now and again, just admiring her. Pearl worked so methodically, so structured. The way her brow furrowed and lips pursed when she was focusing hard on something was, for lack of a better word, adorable.

It was only a matter of time, but Pearl eventually caught her. She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head.

“What? Have I got something on my face?”

Jasper scratched the back of her head.

“Uh... no no, it’s just that you’re um. Kinda cute when you’re all focused like that.” Her cheeks instantly went a deep shade of red the moment the words left her lips. Shit. Why’d she say that? Shitshitshit.

Pearl stared wide-eyed at her before her own face went bright red. She let out a short squeak and covered her mouth, glancing away from her and fidgeting in her seat.

“O-oh.. well, thank you..” she mumbled, fiddling with the nearest piece of paper “you’re too kind I-” She swallowed “I mean.. You’re not too bad yourself, you know.” 

Jasper didn’t think she could blush any more, but her face seemed to disagree with that. She fought the urge to sink down behind her laptop screen and hide forever. Why was she this flustered. Help.

“Uhhh...” she mentally blue-screened for a moment. She was used to being complimented by pretty girls, but they were usually drunk and… well... Not Pearl. 

“...You okay?” Pearl sounded concerned, but her eyes held a glint of amusement. Jasper could only imagine how she looked. Big tough Jasper blushing and bumbling like an awkward schoolgirl.

“Yeah-!” Her voice cracked a little as she replied and she just wanted to curl up into a ball.

“Alright” Pearl let out a soft giggle and settled in her seat once more “wouldn’t want you freaking out on me now would I?”

….This was new. She didn’t think Pearl could be so quick to flip the script on her. Not that is wasn’t welcome but… Yeah. That was unexpected.

She stared down at her screen and continued scrolling, only to get the feeling of being watched moments later. She looked up and gave Pearl a flustered squint and raised a brow. The other woman just chuckled and shook her head before returning to her work. It seemed that Pearl had found herself a bit of confidence; maybe making Jasper flustered was entertaining to her? She wasn’t really sure, but it wasn’t unwelcomed perse, just… different. Maybe this was what she was like after all the awkward introductions.

From then on, it became and on and off routine of the two of them; glancing up and catching the other’s eye, a few teasing comments here and there. Most of the time it resulted in at least one of them getting flustered… Which was mostly Jasper. Despite this though, she found she’d actually made a lot of progress on her applications. It wasn’t until Pearl yawned and began filing some of her paperwork away that she registered they’d been there for several hours. Other customers seemed to have appeared within the shop too, and she was surprised she didn’t hear them walk past.

“Okay,” Pearl said, rubbing her eyes and getting up “I’m going to take a quick bathroom break, be back in a minute. Don’t mess with anything while I’m gone” She grinned.

“Pfft, I wouldn’t dare” Jasper replied with a chuckle, fighting back a yawn as she leaned back in her chair. Pearl just rolled her eyes playfully as she walked past the bigger girl, prompting another grin from her. As soon as the slender woman was out of her view she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, realizing just how tired she was. Staring at a screen really did a number on her eyeballs.

“So. _You’re_ Jasper, huh?”

The sudden voice behind her caused her to almost jump out of her seat. She sat bolt upright and whipped around to find herself under the scrutinizing gaze of a young woman who had popped up from her presumed hiding spot in the booth behind her. Her long violet hair hung loosely around her shoulders, covering one eye while the other stared at her. She stared back.

“The fuck? Who the hell are you??” She exclaimed in surprise. The intruder rolled her eyes and hopped off the chair to make her way around to Jasper’s side.

“Nah, I asked the question first dude, my name isn’t your business. So, Jasper? That’s you right?”

She looked short, a lot shorter than Pearl so Jasper could presume she was around half her size. For such a small individual she sure did have a lot of sass. She sighed “yup. That’s me. Jasper. Now, who are you?”

“Eh, doesn’t matter” the short girl shrugged and folded her arms, looking Jasper up and down “what matters is, I’m a friend of Pearl’s, and I’ve heard about you”

“...Heard about me?”

“Oh, sure! She talks about you a _lot_ when we hang out together, so naturally, I had to come check ya out for myself.”

Jasper, baffled, blushed a little. She hadn’t known Pearl talked about her at all, let alone enough for someone to decide they needed to see exactly who she was. This was… odd, to say the least. She sat up straight and folded her arms.

“Alright, you’ve seen me, what more do you want?” She knew she shouldn’t be abrasive to any of Pearl’s friends, but this girl was definitely rubbing her the wrong way. 

“Hmm...” the girl stroked her chin as if combing through a beard “well you definitely seem like her type she always liked ‘em big…” She grinned, not giving Jasper a chance to respond before leaning on the table with one hand, the other resting on her hip “so, tell me, Jasper, what are your intentions with Pearl eh?”

“...Intentions?” Jasper was even more confused at this point “what do you mean?”

“Ahhh come on now Jaspy! You know what I’m talking about; you been checking her out? Flirting? Putting the _moves_ on her? I know you gave her your jacket like some kinda smooth ass-”

“I-”

“ _Amethyst!_ ”

“Oop, guess I’ve been caught” The short girl snickered, giving Pearl a small wave “yo P, what’s up?”

“What are you _doing_ here??” Pearl continued, speedwalking towards the other girl “I swear, I can’t tell you anything without you trying to stick your nose in-”

“Hey relax P, I just wanted to talk to Jazzy over here” Amethyst gestured to Jasper, who was still confused “wanted to check she wasn’t up to any creepy shit.” Pearl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Amethyst...” She sighed “As much as I appreciate you wanting to look out for me, you can’t just randomly show up and interrogate anyone I spend time with. I mean… How did you even get here without directions? Were you waiting for an opportunity to strike when she was alone? Stars...” Glancing at Jasper and mouthing a brief ‘sorry’ she turned her attention back to her friend “anyway, regardless, you need to head home. You can’t just hang around here while I work.”

“Uh… about that.”

“...What.”

“Skinny gave me a lift here, and I forgot to charge my phone, so I can’t call a cab…”

“Oh for star’s sake...” Pearl groaned, shaking her head as Amethyst grinned sheepishly. “Alright alright, I’ll walk you home later, just… stay in another booth or something, keep yourself busy.”

“You know it’s like… almost 8 pm, right Pearl?”

Pearl stared at her, then glanced at the clock on the wall. 

“...Oh,” she muttered “I had no idea I’d been here that long… darn, well, I guess I really do need to leave.” She sighed and began picking up the rest of her books and papers. “Amethyst, go wait outside for a bit, I’ll be there in a moment.” The shorter girl snorted, gave Jasper a knowing look, then sauntered out of the building.

Pearl sighed again and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry about that,” she said, looking at Jasper with a frustrated/embarrassed expression “Amethyst gets a little… overprotective at times. I hope she didn’t do anything to upset you.”

“Ah… no, not at all. Well, aside from scaring the crap out of me when she first showed up” Jasper snorted, still flushing a little “she uh, did tell me something though. Apparently you... Talk about me? A lot?”

Pearl froze, her eyes slightly turning to meet hers as her cheeks turned red for what seemed the hundredth time that day. Then she swallowed, sighed, and shoved the rest of her things in her bag before sitting down to face Jasper fully.

“Dammit, Okay.” She sighed again “Amethyst’s right… well, sort of. I… may have mentioned you to her a couple of times. Specifically, after the time I showed up at our flat wearing your jacket” she chuckled a little at that “she wanted to know all the details, but apparently I talked about you too much, and she got bored. Said I was being ‘too mushy’ or something- The point is-” Running a hand through her hair she glanced down at the tabletop “I really like you, Jasper. I know we’ve only known each other for a few days but it feels like much longer. Talking with you is so easy, and I’ll admit I find my mood dropping when I know I’m no longer able to communicate with you until the following morning. I think that, um. It would be lovely if we could, you know...” trailing off, she glanced up and met Jasper’s curious, yet hopeful gaze. 

“I was thinking we could do something else sometime, meet up somewhere else that’s not a coffee shop, and not when both of us are bogged down with work. Where we can get to know each other better.”

Jasper blinked as she blushed once more, an infuriatingly common occurrence lately it seemed.

“Wait… do you mean, like, a date?” She asked hesitantly. Pearl gave a shy smile as she toyed with her fingers.  
  
“Depends… would you like it to be?”

Jasper wanted nothing more. She wanted to jump up from her chair and loudly exclaim that a date with Pearl was all she’d ever wanted… Instead, she restrained it to purely an internal freak-out and smiled, sitting forward in her chair.

“Yeah, I’d like that” she replied softly, finally taking the risk and reaching across, placing her hand on top of Pearl’s. She felt the slender woman stiffen under her fingertips, then relax and slowly turn her palm upwards so their hands clasped together. It was probably the cheesiest thing Jasper had ever done, but it felt right.

Just then, there was a loud knocking on the large storefront windows. Amethyst stood outside, wearing a smug expression and proceeding to make some obscene gestures that had Pearl up out of her seat, gesticulating angrily at the now laughing Amethyst. She huffed and grabbed her bag, giving Jasper another apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, she always finds a way to ruin moments like this… anyway. I should really go before she gets any cruder. The last thing I need is for this entire shop to be traumatized. Hang on though-” she pulled a pen out of her bag and scribbled down her number in the closest piece of card she could find and quickly handed it to Jasper “here, call me when you can, or text me, whatever’s easiest for you.” As she turned to leave, she paused, then turned back and before Jasper could even register what was happening, planted a light kiss on her cheek. “See you tomorrow, Jasper,” She said softly, then she turned on her heel and left before the larger girl could say anything.

She sat in silence for several minutes, blinking in shock. Then, as she lifted one hand to her cheek, she glanced down at the card held firmly in her hand. It was the little cardboard sleeve that had been around Pearl’s coffee cup, with said girl’s name scrawled across it. She snorted, then grinned widely to herself. Maybe this coffee shop wasn’t that bad after all.


End file.
